LEMON CHEESECAKE PUDDARD

Lemon Cheesecake Puddard.

No, it's not a typo. A cross between a pudding and a custard, puddard. Very easy to make and gives a whole new meaning to comfort food. After you eat one, remember this...

YUMMMMM...

1-Small box of instant JELLO LEMON PUDDING MIX.

1-Small box instant JELLO CHEESECAKE PUDDING MIX.

2-Cups whole milk.

1-8oz. Tub of Cool Whip Topping. Leave out of freezer for 15 to 20 minutes.

1-Graham Cracker Crust.

Using a medium sized bowl, add 2-cups whole milk. Add the two boxes of JELLO,

Mix with wire whisk until it begins to thicken. Whisk in the Cool Whip until well blended and smooth.

Now right about here it will be impossible not to taste this, so dig in... I'll give you a minute... Now scoop this into your favorite pie crust. I like Graham Cracker Crust. Refrigerate for 1-Hour...

Sorry, I was doubled up on the floor laughing at the look on your face when I said 1-Hour. You can dig right in but the colder it gets the better it will taste.

Remember, cooking doesn't always need heat.

Honey BBQ Wings

HONEY BBQ WINGS.  This recipe is one of my family favorites. Anyone can make these and they come out perfect every time. If you want bigger tastier wings buy whole wings and cut them yourself. If you want fast wings buy them pre-cut and follow these instructions.

You will need:
1 - Large yellow onion (vidalia works as well)
24 or more wings (try to keep even drums and flats)
1 - Tbsp. Lawry's seasoning salt
1 - Tsp. McCormick Black Pepper
1/2 Tsp. McCormick Garlic Powder
2 - Tbsp. McCormick Paprika (smoked paprika is great, regular works as well)
Pre-heat oven to 400F. Set rack to center oven position.
Since these are made in the oven, I try to remove some of the excess fat from the drumettes.
In a shallow pan cut the onion into rings and spread across the bottom of the pan.
Rinse wings and pat dry. Season with Lawry's Seasoning Salt, McCormick Black Pepper, McCormick Garlic Powder.
Place wings in a single layer on the onion rings Cover and bake 20 minutes.
Remove from oven sprinkle even coat of paprika over wings and cook uncovered for 20 minutes.
Get your favorite BBQ sauce and add 4 to 8 ounces of your favorite honey. If your sauce is already sweet add 4 ounces, if the sauce is regular add 8 ounces of honey.
Coat wings with sauce and bake uncovered for 10 minutes, turn off oven and let wings sit in cooling oven for 10 minutes. Make a separate bowl of sauce for the dippers in your group.

If you want to add more flavor, sprinkle on some Mrs dash Garlic and Herb or Onion and Herb along with your other seasonings.

Now, when you take these out of the oven, get yours out first. When everyone tastes these they will go fast.

Don't forget the sour cream and celery / carrot sticks...

Enjoy.

Brussels Sprouts

Brussels Sprouts?
OK, no need for panic! I don't have a fancy name for this recipe. This is simply a way to make Brussels Sprouts taste really good, and believe me you can make them taste really bad without a great recipe.

I actually got my family to eat these over the Christmas Holidays, how about that!

First gather your ingredients:
1 bag frozen Brussels Sprouts - Publix brand works great.
1 Tbsp. Land O lakes butter or margarine.
1 Tbsp. Spice World minced garlic in the jar.
1 Cup Swanson chicken broth.
1 Cap full "not Cup" full of Heinz Distilled White or Red Wine Vinegar. (Both add great flavor).
1 Tsp. of Mrs Dash Original Salt Free seasoning.
1/2 Tsp. McCormick Ground Black Pepper.
1 Tsp. sugar. (I liked this with both white sugar and turbinado Sugar In The Raw).

Put all of your ingredients in a 12 inch skillet. Set stove to medium high. Allow to warm until butter or margarine have melted, stir and then add Brussels Sprouts.
Allow to cook uncovered until almost all of the broth is evaporated, stirring occasionally,  turn off stove.
At this point I like to cut them in half lengthwise using a knife and fork, Cover and let sit for 10 minutes.

I suggest you get an extra bag of Brussels Sprouts because one will not be enough...

You can contact me on this one. I can do this with almost any vegetable.
Good eating, I'll see you next year.
Have a great Christmas and a Happy New Year!!!

BERT'S SOUTHERN STYLE POTATO SALAD

BERT'S SOUTHERN STYLE POTATO SALAD.
I know you have all had, at one time or another, really good potato salad.
This is it!

This recipe works best with Idaho potatoes.
Peel and cut 4 or 5 medium sized potatoes into about 8 pieces each.
Boil potatoes until they are fork tender.
Drain and add cold water to stop the cooking process.

Boil three eggs . After cooling, cut into small pieces.
Finely cut or chop: 1/2 medium yellow onion.
Use 3 heaping tablespoons of Hellman's Real Mayonnaise.
Add 1 large tablespoon of French's Yellow Mustard.
1/2 Tsp McCormick Celery seed
Add 1 tablespoon of Mt Olive Sweet Relish.
In a container that can be covered, mix all of your ingredients together.
The more you mix the more like mashed or smashed potato salad it becomes. Try to
avoid over mixing.
A little black pepper sprinkled on top, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

This is an easy recipe with room for personal touches. You can add fresh celery, use spicey mustard or use different potatoes. I suggest making this version, and then adding your own ideas.

ENJOY!

SMOOTH SWEET POTATO PIE

SMOOTH SWEET POTATO PIE.

I've heard people say, "I like pumpkin pie but not sweet potato pie". Well I say, "they just haven't had it baked right". This is the real deal. A Sweet Potato Pie so smooth and rich you will think it's a cheese cake. You see, there is a little known secret about sweet potatoes or yams. They are fibrous and stringy. But there is a trick to removing the fibers and making the filling smooth.
Wow... Should I give this away or get everyone to pay for it?

2  medium sweet potatoes
1  graham cracker crust or Pet/Ritz crust
1  stick butter or margarine (room Temperature)
1/2 Tsp. McCormick vanilla butternut flavor
1/4  Tsp. McCormick lemon flavor
2  large eggs
1  Tsp. McCormick ground cinnamon
3/4  cup sugar
1/4  cup light brown sugar
1/4  cup evaporated milk

Peel and boil potatoes until fork soft. Now here is the trick. Using a hand mixer, mix at medium speed. The fibers get caught in the blades. Rinse out fibers and mix again removing more fibers. I usually mix three times to get as many fibers out as needed for a smooth filling.

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Add butter or margarine, milk, vanilla butternut flavor, lemon flavor, cinnamon and sugar. mix well.
Add eggs to mixture last so as not to mix eggs in while filling is still very warm.
Pour mixture into crust and bake for 45 to 60 minutes. baking times vary by oven.
Be sure to bake one level above center to avoid overcooking your crust. Pet/Ritz crust should have edge covered to avoid overcooking.

Allow plenty of time to cool. Top with whipped cream or serve with your favorite vanilla ice cream.
This is perfect for this time of the year. Serves just like pumpkin pie. In fact to make it taste more like pumpkin pie, add a dash of nutmeg to your filling.

Alberta's Bread Pudding

Alberta's Bread Pudding.

This is going to be the most complicated recipe you have ever tried from Cabinet Chef. The difficulty lies not in technique, but in patience. DIETERS BEWARE!!

When my mom first taught me this recipe she said "you must mix each ingredient in this recipe one at a time". I said "sure OK".
The first time I made it I just tossed all of the ingredients in and mixed it all up, baked it, tasted it, and threw it away. It was mushy and off flavored and it just looked ugly... Lesson Learned!

What I am giving you now, is the right way to make this Bread Pudding. Believe me when I say this, It will be well worth the effort to follow these instructions.
Set your oven to 350F.
Some of these items you probably have in your cabinet and fridge already:
1  Loaf Nature's Own Butter Bread or your own bakery's butter bread.
4  Cups Whole Milk.
4  Large eggs.
1  Can Carnation Condensed Milk.
2  Cups Sugar.
2  Tbsp McCormick Ground Cinnamon.
1  Tsp McCormick Imitation Vanilla Butter Nut Flavor (OK to use Pure Vanilla Extract).
1/4Tsp McCormick Pure Lemon Extract.
1  Stick Butter or Margarine (softened).
5  Ounces of Sun-maid Raisins (little more than half of 9 oz box).
1/2 Cup Bakers or Peter Paul Mounds Coconut flakes.
(Raisins and coconut are optional in this recipe)

These quantities make a large sheet cake sized bread pudding. For smaller size cut all ingredient in half except Vanilla Butter Nut and Lemon Extract.

In a large mixing bowl pour in your condensed milk. Mix in your ground cinnamon, followed by your eggs then your sugar (you can substitute most of your sugar with Stevia In The Raw). Mix well by hand or a mixer set on slow. Stir in your vanilla and lemon flavoring.

In a separate bowl pour in your milk. Quickly wet your bread in the milk (don't let the bread get so wet it falls apart) and put into your prepared mixture. After the whole loaf is wet and added to mixture, pour in excess milk and by hand mix the bread in until well mixed.

Coat your pan with Bakers Joy or similar baking spray with flour (Mom just greases and flours hers). Mix in the butter or margarine and your coconut and raisins and pour into pan (if too much for the pan just refrigerate the rest for later). Bake for 60 to 90 minutes or until dark golden brown (cooking times may vary in different ovens). Let cool for 1 hour before serving. Top with whipped cream.

I have never offered before, but if you want to try it before you bake it yourself, I am willing to make a batch and let you taste it as long as I get enough requests to make one pan to ship. That means that 12 people can try the original. I can make half with coconut and raisins and half without.

Contact me at cabinetchef@gmail.com.

SMASHED POTATO SALAD

SMASHED POTATO SALAD.

I had some friends over and as usual I was talking about food. One of my friends said "I hate potato salad, I don't like eating potatoes with mayo". Well, I took that as a challenge.

So here is my recipe for potato salad that makes the mayo go away.

Don't get me wrong you have to use mayo or it's not potato salad, but changing just a couple of steps, makes it look more like mashed or smashed potatoes that tastes like potato salad.

If I do say so myself, this came out great!

This recipe works well with Idaho or White potatoes.
Peel and cut 4 or 5 medium sized  potatoes into about 8 pieces each. 
Boil potatoes until they are fork tender, cover and let sit for 10 minutes.
Drain and allow to cool for 30 minutes.

Boil three eggs . After cooling, shred into small pieces.
Finely cut or chop: 1 - stalk of celery, 1/2 medium yellow onion.
Use 3 heaping tablespoons of your preferred real mayonnaise. I like Hellman's.
Add 1 large tablespoon of yellow mustard. I prefer French's.
Optional: Add 1 tablespoon of sweet relish. I like Mt. Olive.
In a container that can be covered, mix all of your ingredients together.
The more you mix the more like mashed or smashed potatoes it becomes.
A little black pepper, give it one more mix, cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

As good as this tastes the first day, the next day will be even better!
ENJOY!